“Matt Painter in the crowd somewhere”: Hoops fans react to 14YO hooper Jeremy Gohier’s insane 7’6 height

14-year-old Canadian hooper Jeremy Gohier has made rumblings in the basketball world for his towering height. On Monday, June 2, @br_hoops on Instagram uploaded a clip of the young talent of the Canadian U16 basketball team's first game in the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup.

Gohier and the rest of coach Chris Cheng's squad won their first game against Valenzuela by four points, 66-62. The lengthy center logged in for nine minutes in the matchup and ended with three rebounds and a block.

"14 year old Jeremy Gohier is a monster 😈 @jaygohier @americup," @br_hoops on Instagram captioned with an emoji.

College basketball fans and spectators reacted to what this could mean for the sport moving forward.

"Matt Painter in the crowd somewhere," one user pointed out.

"USA Basketball is doomed," another user wrote with a Canadian flag and a basketball emoji.

"Jeremy grew two inches. He was 7-foot-4. Olivier watch out. Hope they will be on the same NBA team when both are ready. Powerhouse for their NBA team! Go Jeremy!!," a user explained.

Other users all over the comment section then wondered where Gohier could've gotten his stature from.

"Tf they feeding those kids in Canada??," one user said.

"At this point, there's gotta be a generic lab somewhere. They ain't slick," another user wrote.

"What province is he from," another questioned.

"They better play him more next game," a user posted.

Gohier has a listed height of 7-foot-6, per his FIBA profile, and plays for the Canadian club Nobel Elite apart from his national team duties.

Matt Painter mentored Memphis Grizzlies' towering Canadian native Zach Edey

Matt Painter and Zach Edey in 2024. - Source: Robert Deutsch, Imagn

Perhaps one program that Jeremy Gohier could potentially look at when the time comes that he starts looking at potential college basketball landing spots is with coach Matt Painter's Purdue Boilermakers.

Painter has served as the storied program's main tactitian for about two decades now, entering his 21st season in the 2025-26 campaign, and recently produced the 7-foot-4 stalwart Zach Edey.

Edey, who is also a Canadian bigman just like Gohier, has recently taken his talents into the NBA and was recently named to the 2025 All-Rookie First Team after a remarkable first year with the Memphis Grizzlies that saw him average 9.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.3 blocks per contest.

He and the rest of Painter's squad famously went all the way to the 2024 NCAA national championship game, but unfortunately lost to the UConn Huskies, 75-60. In his final year of collegiate hoops in the 2023-24 campaign, Edey averaged 25.2 markers, 12.2 boards, 2.0 dimes and 2.2 swats a game under the tutelage of Painter.

About the author

Koby del Rosario is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda who took up BS in Advertising Management at De La Salle University, one of the big "four" universities in the Philippines. Koby has over four years of experience with Complex PH, M2.0 Communications, The LaSallian, Daily Tribune, and Time Attack Manila.

Koby's favorite college team would have to be the North Carolina Tar Heels. Apart from being MJ's alma mater, Koby has always been fond of the Jordan silhouettes that release in the school's colors (being a sneakerhead himself).

His past favorite college players would have to be Russell Westbrook (UCLA) and Markelle Fultz (Washington). With Russ, his 1-2 punch with Kevin Love during their UCLA days was something Koby marveled at as Russ became his favorite player to watch post-Kobe.

Besides playing basketball, Koby enjoys nightlife, collecting sneakers, and playing video games. Apart from hosting parties and taking pictures for parties/bars/clubs, Koby is learning to DJ as a hobby with all sorts of house and hip-hop as the main genres.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash